10 Ways You Can Become An Industry Leader In Your Community And Niche

Whether you are a lawyer, accountant, dentist, coach/consultant, chiropractor, or other health or service professional, being seen as an industry leader in your local market is one of the best ways to increase visibility and credibility, boost sales and have a steady stream of clients and referrals seeking out your expertise. How can you make that happen? This article will show you!

Your local community can be a great place to showcase your expertise and gain visibility, soon being seen as the leading authority within your industry.

Below are 10 ways you can use social media and other online and offline tactics to become an industry leader in your community.

1. Start a Blog

There is no better way to showcase your expertise and position yourself as a leading authority in your niche than to create valuable content targeted towards your local market. Provide insightful posts that showcase your knowledge as an industry leader and offer valuable insights and solution to problems experienced by your ideal client.

2. Create a Twitter Account

Open connection policies make Twitter an excellent resource for introductions and connections online. Use tools like Twitter Local or Twitter’s own advanced search feature to find great people in your area that you can follow.

3. Network on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is still the largest professional networking site in the world. It offers you the opportunity to connect with your local market online and gain credibility through your association with industry groups, thought leaders and other respected business owners. It also gives you the opportunity to do searches for your ideal client.

4. Start a LinkedIn Group

Starting your own group on LinkedIn helps establish you as a thought leader and industry influencer. Groups allow you to create an online environment for your local market where they can network, share information and gain valuable resources not available anywhere else. When you have your own group on LinkedIn you are able to send messages (called announcements) to the entire group up to one time per week. This is a great opportunity to promote any events you are planning.

5. Create a Business Facebook Page

Pages are still the best way to do business on Facebook. Each business Facebook page is openly indexed by Google and can offer valuable SEO opportunities. Provide interesting and relevant information on your page to attract the attention of your target audience, You can also use questions or polls to gain insights into their views on issues within your industry. You can promote your Facebook page through many online and offline mediums and can even use highly target Facebook ads to build it up and create more awareness of you, your business and your Facebook page.

6. Host Webinars/Live Seminars

Webinars and seminars are a wonderful way to showcase your industry expertise, provide value to your target audience and also offer content that can be used repeatedly to increase your visibility. Meet with your local market and share value they won’t soon forget. Record the presentation and add the audio along with a Power Point presentation to a tool like Adobe Connect and you’ve got content you can use to continue showcasing yourself as an industry leader for a long time to come.

7. Article Marketing

When used correctly, article marketing can become a leading method of driving traffic to your web site. Write quality articles pertaining to specific issues within your industry and offer solutions to the problems your target market faces daily. This content can then be placed on your website and shared on top article distribution sites like Ezine Articles, Article City and Go Articles to position yourself as an expert and increase the chances of your content being shared more extensively. You should also submit your articles to your local media as they may publish it and you may even get their opportunity to be a regular contributor or have your own column.

8. Offer Free Reports

Free reports not only provide your market with great value, they also give people an incentive to sign up for your mailing lists. Instead of simply asking people to sign up for your newsletter, offer them something that will solve a problem or provide them with valuable tools. Make sure you name your Free Report something that will captivate interest enough for people to be willing to give you their email address to get it. It’s a win-win situation when they sign up to get it!

9. Write a Book/eBook

It’s all about the content. Blog posts, videos and free reports all have their place in your marketing strategy. However, writing a book or an eBook offers you the opportunity to step outside the box really positioning yourself as an expert or leading authority on your topic. If there were two lawyers, two accountants, or even two dentists that you were considering for services, who would you choose, the one that wrote a book, or the other, if all other things were the same? Most people would choose the one who wrote the book as it gives them that added degree of credibility. Becoming an author is a great way to showcase yourself as the industry leader in your community.

10. Join Local Industry Networking Groups

Being an industry leader in your community means you need to be highly visible in your local market. Chamber of Commerce events, industry groups and even local community events will provide you with the added visibility you’re looking for. Go armed with a positive attitude, a helpful nature and an online portfolio of great content where people can find out more about you. It won’t take long before they’ll be reviewing your content and looking forward to your presence long before you arrive!

Your Path to Successfully Becoming The Leading Authority in Your Niche

No one becomes an expert overnight. Start with great content, create your online profiles and participate in local and online activities. By offering value in a consistent and ongoing manner you will very quickly outshine all others within your industry.

Although there is a process to everything, one thing is clear; becoming an industry leader can be as easy as following the right steps, in the right order and with the right attitude. Here’s the best part, you don’t need to do this all yourself. You can outsource much of this to someone who knows how to do this for you or you can hire a coach or mentor to guide you through it.

These 10 steps will work for all professionals whether you are located in Kelowna, Vancouver, Calgary, New York, Phoenix or Los Angeles or any other city or country. Don’t expect to be able to implement all of these at once. Just start implementing them one at a time and very quickly you will see how this will position you as the industry leader in your community. As the industry leader you will see that you will have an increase in visibility, credibility and profitability!

I’m curious, which of these 10 steps to become an industry leader do you feel that you’re ready to implement right now? Share your answer in the comments below.